Egypt’s new strongman is called “Mubarak’s poodle” by junior military officers.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the 75- year-old defense minister, also is considered too old, unwilling to change and out of touch with his times, according to US diplomats.

But the Cairo-born Tantawi emerged as the most powerful man in Egypt yesterday as head of the Higher Military Council, which said it would run the government until the first post-Mubarak elections in September. He also is spoken of as a possible presidential candidate in those elections.

In 1991, Tantawi served in the US-led coalition in Operation Desert Storm, which drove Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait. He also fought as an infantry officer in three wars against Israel, in 1956, 1967 and 1973.

A revealing and damning insight into Tantawi came from WikiLeaks. Before he visited America in March 2008, the US ambassador in Cairo, Francis Ricciardone, warned the State Department, “Washington interlocutors should be prepared to meet an aged and change-resistant Tantawi,” according to a leaked cable.

“He and Mubarak are focused on regime stability and maintaining the status quo through the end of their time,” Ricciardone went on. “They simply don’t have the energy, inclination or world view to do anything differently.”